Jim Herd writes:

Our very good friend, Geoff Loyns, took his last thermal Friday. Fittingly, at Boundary Peak in the Owens Valley, near Bishop, California. He knew and loved this entire area better than anyone I know.

He was flying a well-trodden path in his Ventus motorglider (“BM”) from Minden, Nevada, southeast. He was about 80 miles outbound at about 3 p.m. when he was last heard from on the aircraft radio. He was at about 17,000 feet and doing O.K. at that point. No other radio calls were heard and when he did not call in or return on Friday evening the alarm was raised early on Saturday. You see, it would not have been uncommon for a glider to have made an unplanned out-landing at a remote place with no radio or cell phone coverage. In the past, pilots have just spent the night in the cockpit quite comfortably and walked to get help the next day.

The search on Saturday involved the Civil Air Patrol in what they call a “route search”, however, no-one really knew where Geoff was going on Friday. He was basically flying solo that day. However, there were a few other gliders in the air and they all talked intermittently to give position reports. A handful of private powered aircraft also took to the skies on Saturday and searched a very wide area down to Bishop and Lone Pine and over eastwards to Tonopah and Hadley. No joy.

By late on Saturday everyone was becoming very worried since there were no sightings and no radio or phone contact.

On Sunday morning at 6 a.m. about a dozen pilots and other concerned folks gathered at the Minden airport restaurant to augment the Civil Air Patrol. The CAP guys had decided to change tactics to what they call a “grid search”. They have the entire state mapped out in grid segments precisely for this purpose. They train for just such a scenario.

Some concerned private pilots and their observers decided to concentrate on the likely areas of flight, armed with knowledge of the terrain and the weather on Friday, and Geoff’s soaring habits. Several of us know Geoff’s flying patterns very well. The soaring weather conditions were not good on Friday - mediocre lift and moderate SW winds with almost no clouds. This is a recipe for turbulence and Geoff knew that better than anyone after tumbling his hang glider and descending safely under canopy about 20 years ago. So the hunch was that he would not have gone too far off the beaten path where lift is usually best. About 5 private planes fanned out to the south east. I was in the second plane and as we approached Boundary Peak the first plane was in sight, 5 miles ahead of us. They said they thought they saw something. We followed over the same spot and at low level over the crash site we saw debris almost buried amongst the small trees. It was at 10,300 feet and about two miles west of the peak - the top of Boundary Peak is at about 13,500. The site is just below the tree line, very steep with small trees and in an open area – not deep in a canyon. Bishop airport would have been an easy glide from there.

Within 5 minutes the GPS coordinates were relayed to CAP and then to Fallon Naval Air Station. The navy had a fully-equipped helicopter in the air in 40 minutes. The worst case scenario was confirmed about an hour later. Looking at the site from above, it probably was all over very fast.

The recovery process is now underway under the control of Mono County, California. There was probably a GPS logger on board and if it survived it will provide more information. Several scenarios have been speculated, but it seems that a combination of turbulence and advanced flying techniques will be at the root of it. Definitely food for thought for the rest of us.

Geoff’s next of kin in Wales have been notified and his brother-in-law, Peter, will be on a plane over here as soon as he can. Peter is a mature professional but I am sure he will appreciate assistance from some of us local “Yankees” because procedures are different over here. Geoff also leaves a sister, Geraldine, a daughter, Martine, and a grand daughter, Kimberly. They all live in South Wales. Geoff had hoped to retire back there one day.

As you can imagine, writing this note is one of the most painful things I have ever done. I have known Geoff since his early “piss and vinegar” days in the early 1980’s flying hang gliders all around California. Some of the recipients of this note have known him just as long. Perhaps we will all get together to recall stories, but it is too early for that right now. You can call me and Jennifer if you feel the need, but frankly, we know no more at this point and it isn’t fun to go over it excessively. Details will unfold over the next few days and we will provide an update.

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